Freight car construction with recessed load securing means



Nov. 12, 1968 BURR ETAL FREIGHT CAR CONSTRUCTION WITH RECESSED LOADSECURING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 29, 1966 INVENTOR.

LINTON B. BURR WILLIAM R. YOKEL DON R. WILLIAMS FRANK E. cufydi BY IWATTORNEM Nov. 12, 1968 L. B. BURR ETAL 3,410,228

' FREIGHT CAR CONSTRUCTION WITH RECESSED LOAD SECURING MEANS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1966 DON R. WILLIAMS FRANK E. CgIRE BY44.45 ATTORNE nited States Patent Office 3,410,228 Patented Nov. 12,1968 3 410 228 FREIGHT CAR coNsrRUcTroN WITH RECESSED LOAD SECURINGMEANS Linton B. Burr, William R. Yokel, Donald R. Williams, and Frank E.Cheshire, Evansville, Ind., assignors to International Steel Company,Evansville, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Aug. 29, 1966, Ser. No.575,610 Claims. ('Cl. 105-409) This invention relates broadly to railwayfreight car body construction and more particlularly to a singlesheathed car side with recessed load securing means.

In the freight transportation industry standard size packaging has beendeveloped which it is hoped Will be adopted internationally so that allfreight by ground, sea, or air will be shipped in standard containersizes. This standardized packaging has been developed to fully utilize anine-foot, six-inch wide area, and at present in the railway industrythere are no freight cars equipped with continuous horizontal securementbars and transverse retaining bars having a width of this magnitude, soat present it is not possible for the railway industry to gain the fulladvantages afforded by the standardization of freight packaging, Theproblem cannot be overcome merely by increasing the overall Width of thefreight cars because the maximum exterior widths of the cars havealready reached the limit beyond which they cannot be enlarged as thewidth is limited by railway obstacles, such as bridges, tunnels,closeness of adjacent tracks, etc. Therefore, at present, space isWasted in existing freight cars when containers having dimensions of theadopted standard sizes are shipped, because most existing freight carsdo not have interior widths that are fully compatable with the standardsize packaging and thus the floor space in the freight car cannot befully utilized. When the standard packaging sizes have been in use for aperiod of time carriers will no longer be faced with the problem of howto load particular sizes of lading or packages because there will be astandard way to stack packages of standard cooperating sizes in railwaycars, vehicle trailers,

ships and air cargo planes. This system will also insure that propersize equipment is available at both the loading and unloading points ofa freight carrier for lifting and moving the standard size packaging,thus reducing delays in freight transportation time.

The railroad freight industry is thus in great need of a house-type carhaving an increased interior width from most presently-known in the art,namely, in interior width of nine-feet, six-inches, with no obstructionsprotruding from the interior walls which would reduce the interiorloading area. Providing such a car construction presents severalproblems. A relatively thin car side assembly is the only constructionthat will provide increased interior car width'without increasing theexterior car width. However, providing a thinner car side assembly thuspresents the problem of how to obtain suflicient car side rigidity,because a car side of the type contemplated has a length dimension ofover fifty-feet and a height dimension of over eleven-feet, and it isdifficult to provide sufiicient rigidity to such a large structure whenit is only approximately three-inches thick. The rigidity problem isfurther compounded by the necessity of providing continuous belt railsalong the interior walls for securing lading in position in the car, andthese belt rails and other lading anchor means must be recessed in thealready relatively thin car sides, so as not to reduce the interior loadspace, and the car sides must then be rigid enough to support the ladingloads transferred thereto.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide aconstruction of a house-type railroad car which provides an interior carwidth of nine-feet, six-inches,

while at the same time provides recessed securing means in the car side.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction ofsingle sheathed railway car side which is rigid in construction andrelatively thin in overall wall thickness.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction ofrailway car side which provides greater interior width for a set maximumexterior width car.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a construction ofsingle sheathed car side which enables standardized packaging sizes tobe fully utilized without waste of space in a railway freight car whileat the same time provides packaging securing belt rails extendingsubstantially the length of the car sides.

Other and further objects of the invention are set forth more fully inthe specification hereinafter following and will become apparent to oneskilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a freight car side according tothe invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially alongline 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially alongline 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged foreshortened longitudinal sectional view takensubstantially along line 44 of FIG. 1 and showing the belt rail explodedfrom the car side;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged foreshortened longitudinal sectional view takensubstantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a fragmentary portion of theexterior of the railway car side according to the invention; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the interior wall of therailway car side according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and particularly FIGS. 1and 3, the top of the single sheathed car side, for house-type railroadcars, such as box cars, refrigerator cars, and the like, consists of ahorizontally extending side header 1 having a downwardly sloping webportion 2, an upwardly extending vertical flange portion 3 connected toone end thereof, and a downwardly extending vertical flange portion 4connected to the other endthereof. Side header member 1 is a formedmember, with the top terminal edge of flange portion 3 provided with adownwardly sloping top flange portion 5 extending in the same directionfrom flange portion 3 as web portion 2. Top flange portion 5 comprisesthe connecting member between the roof assembly of the house-typerailroad car and the single sheathed car side assembly of the invention.

A plurality of vertically extending, formed hollow post membersconsisting of corner posts 6, at each end of the car side assembly, sideposts 7, notched side posts 8, and door post 9 and 10, are welded at theupper terminal ends to the back and under sides of flange portion 4 andweb portion 2 of side header member 1, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 3.Each of the posts 6, 7, 8 and 9 is formed in the same configuration, asindicated in the drawings, having a pair of side web portions 11connected at one end to opposite ends of a main web portion 12, andextending in the same direction therefrom in angular relation with themain web portion with the terminal ends of side web portions 11 eachprovided with an outwardly turned flange portion 13 disposed insubstantially parallel relation with main web portion 12. Corner posts 6and door posts 9 and 10, as indicated by the door posts in FIGS. 4 and5, are constructed of somewhat heavier material than side posts 7 andnotched side posts 8 to provide greater reinforcement for the ends andthe door opening in the car side assembly. For instance, corner posts 6,and door posts 9 and may be constructed of inch formed material, whilethe remaining posts may be constructed of 4; inch formed material. Doorpost 10 is of known construction in the art and is provided with anailer strip 14- which enables the use of grain doors (not shown), whendesired, to be nailed to the door post. It will be noted that door post9 is provided with a larger flange 13, extending toward the dooropening, than the other post members, as this larger flange aids informing and strengthening the door opening, and also provides thesealing surface for the plug type side doors (not shown).

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7 it will be noted that bothside web portions 11 of notched side posts 8, and a single side webportion 11 of door post 9, as well as the outer notched side posts 8 ateach end of the car assembly adjacent side posts 7, are provided withcut out notches, indicated generally at 1-5, having a main edge portion16, disposed substantially parallel with main web portion 12, and a pairof side edge portions 17 diverging therefrom toward the inner side ofthe car side assembly. The flange portion 13, for a short interval,below each notch is cut away to form a small recess indicated at 18 inthe side web portion 11, the purpose of which is explained further inthis specification. The provision of notches and recesses 18 along thelength of the post members results in the outwardly turned flangeportions 13, in the notched posts, actually constituting outwardlyturned tab portions, as best illustrated in FIGS 1, 2 and 6. By way ofexample, the side posts may have an overall depth dimension ofapproximately three inches with the notches 15 recessed therein from theinner side of the posts a depth in the range of approximately one thirdthe depth of the posts.

From FIG. 1 it will be noted that the door opening is oflset in the carside, with the door openings in opposite sides of the house-type carbeing offset to opposite ends of the car so that both doors can be usedsimultaneously in loading the car. With this arrangement, as indicated,the right hand portion of the car side assembly shown in FIG. 1 isprovided with a greater number of notched side posts 8 than the portionof the car side assembly to the left of the door opening. The notchedside posts 8 on each side of the door opening are generally uniformlyspaced relative to each other, but since the car side area to the rightof the door opening is larger than that to the left of the door openingit may be desirable to place the notched side posts 8 somewhat closertogether on the right hand portion of the car side than on the left handportion of the car side to insure suflicient rigidity. Referring to thecar side to the right of the door opening, the sheathing for the singlesheath car side assembly consists of a plurality of side sheathingsheets 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23, having relatively small vertical or widthdimensions extending from approximately the edge of one notch 15 to theedge of the adjacent notch 15 and having relatively great longitudinaldimensions extending from door post 10 to the farthest notched side post8. The overall concept contemplates location of opposite doors on thecenter line of the car if so desired. The side sheathing is constructedof relatively narrow sheets with their lengths extending longitudinallyof the car. As best shown in FIGS. 2, 6 and 7 each of the side sheathingsheets 19-23 is provided with a longitudinally extending recess 24,therein adjacent the lower edge of the sheet, with the recesses havingsloping side wall portions, and being of a depth and shape to conformwith the contour of the cut out notches 15 in notched side posts 8, soas to meshingly engage within the notches 15. The sheets are thus formedwith a relatively broad flat portion 27 adjacent the top edges 26thereof and a relatively narrow flange 28 adjacent the lower edge 25thereof, with the vertical plane of narrow flange 28 being slightlyoflset toward the exterior of the car side from the vertical plane ofbroad flat portion 27, as best illustrated in FIG. 2.

The top edge 26 of side sheathing sheet 19 is connected to the back ofvertical flange portion 3 of side header member 1, FIG. 3, by means of acontinuous weld along the top of the sheet, with the longitudinallyextending recess 24 thereof, throughout its length, fitting within theuppermost notches 15 of the plurality of notched side posts 8, since thenotches of all the side posts are disposed in registration with eachother. Narrow flange portion 28 of sheet 19 extends into recess 18 ofthe plurality of posts 8 and its lower edge 25 is welded to the top edgeof tab flange portion 13, FIG. 6, with the main edge portions 16, andside edge portions 17 of notches 15, as well as the edges of recess 18being welded at appropriate places to the outer surface of sheathingsheet 19 to securely connect the sheet to each of the posts 8. It willbe noted that narrow flange 28 is disposed in the same plane with flangeportions 13 of the notched posts, so that the next sheathing sheet 20can be connected flush against the back of the post members 8.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the top edge 26 of side sheathing sheet 20is disposed in overlapping relation with the narrow flange of sheathingsheet 19 with the edge connected thereto by means of a continuous weldjoint or the like. Flat portion 27 of the sheet fits flush against postflange portions 13, with the longitudinally extending recess 24 thereof,throughout its length, fitting within the registered notches 15 of theplurality of posts 8. The lower narrow flange 28 is connected withinrecess 18 and the lower edge 25 is welded to the top portion of thepreceding flange 13, with the other portions of the sheet being weldedat appropriate places to the side web portions 11 and flanges 13 of theposts 8.

In like manner, the top edges 26 of side sheathing sheets 21, 22 and 23,respectively, are connected in overlapping relation, by means ofcontinuous weld joints, to the narrow flanges 28 of side sheathingsheets 20, 21 and 22, respectively, with the broad flat portions 27 ofeach sheet disposed flush against the backs of flange portions 13 of theposts and with the longitudinally extending recesses 24 of therespective sheets connected by means of Weld joints within therespective notches 15 of the various side posts throughout the lengthsof the longitudinal recesses 24. Similarly, the narrow flanges 28 ofeach side sheathing sheet fit within the respective recesses 18 of eachpost 8 and are secured by welding or the like to the adjacent flangeportions 13 and side web portions 11 of the posts. Each of the sheets isalso welded at appropriate places to the flange portions 13 and thisarrangement of a plurality of side sheathing sheets longitudinallywelded together throughout their lengths and integrally welded at aplurality of points to a plurality of vertical posts 8 provides a carside structure of great strength, which can withstand greater stressesthan a car side constructed of only a single side sheathing sheet.

The base of the single sheath car side assembly is completed by a flatsheet 29 welded along its top edge to the back of narrow flange 28 ofside sheathing sheet 23 and welded at appropriate places, such as byplug or seam welds to the flanges of notched side posts 8, as well asthe flange of door post 10. Each of the side sheathing sheets 19-23 isalso welded to the flange of door post 10, with an end closure bracket30, FIG. 5, also welded t the flange of door post 10 at the end of eachlongitudinally extending recess 24, to form a closure for the ends ofthe recesses. In a similar manner, an end closure bracket 31 is weldedto the interior surface of the outer flange 13 of the notched side posts8 closest to the end of the car side assembly to close the end of eachlongitudinally extending recess 24. A separate closure bracket 31 isprovided for each of the recesses 24.

The side sheathing of the car side assembly is completed at each end ofthe assembly by a single piece corner sheet 32 welded to the flanges 13of corner post 6, side post 7, and the notched side posts 8 adjacentside post 7. At the extreme end of the structure the terminating edge ofcorner sheet 32 is turned inwardly normal to itself around the cornerand forms a connecting member for the ends of the car (not shown) andreinforcing gussets 33 are connected between corner posts 6 and cornersheet 32.

The sheathing for the car side assembly connected to the notched sideposts 8 and door post 9 to the left of the door opening is connected ina similar manner as the side sheathing sheets 19-23 and flat sheet 29,and corresponding elements are designated with corresponding primednumerals.

Inwardly-facing formed channels or C sections 34, FIGS. 1 and 2, arerigidly welded to the interior surfaces of flat sheet members 29 and 29and corner sheet members 32, adjacent the lower edge of the car sideassembly and being substantially coextensive with the length of saidsheet members. Formed member 34 are preferably welded to the respectivesheets in the area of flanges 13 of the respective posts to form a morerigid structure, and these members are adapted to receive and supportthe car floor 35. Further, this construction serves to attach, connectand support the side component at the underframe. In the area of thedoor opening, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 5, relatively wide thresholdmember 36 is connected to door post and formed member 34, by welding orthe like, along the lower edge of the car side assembly and outwardly ofmember 34. Threshold 36 and its corresponding formed section 34terminate at 37 intermediate the door posts 9 and 10 with the terminalends thereof connected to the terminal end of corresponding formedsection 34 adjacent door post 9, FIG. 4, by narrow threshold member 38which is disposed in axial alignment with both formed sections 34.

As indicated in FIG. 2, when a pair of car side assemblies of theinvention are assembled to form a housetype car, flat sheets 29, 29,corner sheets 32, threshold members 36 and 38, and formed sections 34connect with the main car framing 39.

A door header member 40 is rigidly connected by welding or the like toside header member 1 and door posts 9 and 10 to form the top portion ofthe door opening and this member may comprise a formed Z-section. Themembers 1, 40 and 9 and 10 cmprise the supporting means to which slidingplug door assembly 105, not shown, are connected, and members 36 and 38form the thresholds for the door assembly. The single sheath car sideassembly is completed by continuous belt rail members 41 rigidly weldedin each of the longitudinally extending recesses 34 of the respectiveside sheathing sheets with the belt rails being recessed completelywithin the recesses 24, and being substantially coextensive therewith,to provide continuous lading anchoring means throughout substantiallythe entire length of the car side assembly. The belt rails are weldedinto the recesses and are preferably welded to the side sheathing sheetsparticularly at their point of contact with the side web portions 11 ofthe various posts so that the belt rail members are integrally connectedand supported by the notched side posts 8 and the door posts 9 and 10.It is to be noted that the continuous belt rails are recessed within thevarious posts with the inner surface of belt rail members 41 being flushwith the inner surfaces of flat portions 27 of the various sidesheathing sheets 19- 23, 19-23', flat sheets 29, 29' and corner sheets32, as best illustrated in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. The outwardly turned flangeportions 13 of the various posts, and the relatively narrow flangeportions 28 of the various sheathing sheets, are disposed in an adjacentvertical plane to the flat portions 27 of the side sheathing sheets,fiat sheets 29, 29' and corner sheets 32.

Each of the belt rails 41 is provided with a plurality of spacedapertures 43, extending the length thereof, and an upturned flange 44for receiving in locking relation the coupling portions 45, shown inphantom in FIG. 2 of the cross bar members 46, used to variablypartition adjacent cargo-receiving space and to support cargo or ladingin layers, in a manner well-known in the art. In addition, a pluralityof lading strap anchor devices, one of which is shown at 47, arerecessed in the side sheathing sheets and mounted flush with the same inthe area of the post members so that they protrude into the hollowportions of the post rather than the exterior of the car. These ladingstrap anchors 47 are used to anchor flexible tie means, such as ropes orstraps, for securing lading in place, so that it will not shift duringtransportation.

By way of example, all of the sheathing sheets may be constructed ofhigh strength, low alloy material having a thickness of approximatelyone-eighth inch. This construction eliminates any car liner, provides aflush interior wall with cross bar belt rail members mounted flushwithin the interior walls to provide and maintain throughout the car aninterior width of nine-feet, six inches which is substantially largerthan the interior width of most cars available on the commercial market.The sheathing sheets 1923, 19'-23', 29, 29 and 32, in addition toforming the interior wall surface of the car, also form the exteriorWall surface of the car to provide a single sheath housetype car sideassembly. The plurality of sheets forming the sheathing welded togetherand integrally welded to the vertical post give the car sideconstruction substantially great rigidity. A car constructed in themanner prescribed for the first time enables the interior loading spaceof a car to be fully utilized by the standardized packaging developedfor a nine-foot, six-inch width area.

The exterior surfaces of corner post 6 and side post 7 may be providedwith keyhole slots 42, or the like, for the connection of grab-irons andexterior ladders. While the invention has been shown and described incertain preferred embodiments, it is realized that certain modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention,and it is to be understood that no limitations upon the invention areintended other than those imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is as follows:

1. In a house-type railroad car, a car side assembly comprising: aplurality of spaced vertical formed car side posts having coplanarflanges toward the car interior disposed in a common vertical plane, aheader member extending longitudinally of the car side connected to theupper terminal ends of said plurality of car side posts, metallic wallsheathing means connected in flush relation with said coplanar flangesand said header member, said car side posts having recessed notchestherein opening toward the car interior with the notches of adjacentside posts substantially along the length of the car disposed inregistration, a recessed portion opening inwardly of the car formed insaid wall sheathing means and extending longitudinally of the car andconnected throughout the length thereof in the registered recessednotches of said car side posts, and continuous securing rail meansconnected in said recessed portion and being substantially coextensivetherewith and having an inner surface toward the car interior disposedflush with said wall sheathing means, whereby said wall sheathing meansforms the interior and exterior walls of said car side assembly and saidsecuring rail means is recessed within the vertical posts longitudinallyof the car.

2. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which said securingrail means is integrally connected to said wall sheathing means and saidside posts.

3. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 1 including an inwardlyopening channel-shaped floor attaching member extending longitudinallyof the car side assembly and integrally connected to said wall sheathingmeans and said coplanar flanges adjacent the lower end of said sideposts.

4. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which said securingrail means includes an upstanding terminal flange extendingsubstantially the length of said recessed 7 portion and in substantiallythe same vertical plane as said wall sheathing means.

5. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which said car sideposts include a plurality of said recessed notches spaced along thevertical lengths thereof, and a plurality of said recessed portionsformed in said Wall sheathing means in substantially parallel relationand connected throughout the lengths thereof in the respectiveregistered and recessed notches of the car side posts in substantiallynormal relation.

- 6. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which said metallicwall sheathing means comprises a plurality of side sheathing sheetshaving the lengths thereof extending transversely of said side posts,and the top and bottom edges thereof connected in overlapping relationalong the vertical lengths of said side posts.

7. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 6 in which said car sideposts include plural spaced recessed notches along the vertical lengthsthereof, a said longitudinally extending recessed portion formed in eachof said plurality of side sheathing sheets overlying the recessednotches, said recessed portions connected throughout the lengths thereofin the respective side post recessed notches, and a continuous securingrail means connected in and substantially coextensive with each of saidrecessed portions.

8. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 7 in which each of saidside sheathing sheets includes an upper relatively broad portion on oneside of said recessed portion and a relatively narrow portion on theother side of said recessed portion, and said relatively narrow portionsand relatively broad portions of said plurality of side sheathing sheetsdisposed in separate adjacent common vertical planes.

9. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 8 in which said relativelynarrow portions are connected to and disposed in the same vertical planeas said side post coplanar flanges.

10. A car side assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which said formed carside posts are channel-shaped having a main Web portion and a pair ofside web portions terminating in said coplanar flanges, and saidrecessed notches formed in said flanges and pair of side web portions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1959 Bock et al -409 5/1967Pulcrano 105-409

1. IN A HOUSE-TYPE RAILROAD CAR, A CAR SIDE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING: APLURALITY OF SPACED VERTICAL FORMED CAR SIDE POSTS HAVING COPLANARFLANGES TOWARD THE CAR INTERIOR DISPOSED IN A COMMON VERTICAL PLANE, AHEADER MEMBER EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE CAR SIDE CONNECTED TO THEUPPER TERMINAL ENDS OF SAID PLURALITY OF CAR SIDE POSTS, METALLIC WALLSHEATHING MEANS CONNECTED IN FLUSH RELATION WITH SAID COPLANAR FLANGESAND SAID HEADER MEMBER, SAID CAR SIDE POSTS HAVING RECESSED NOTCHESTHEREIN OPENING TOWARD THE CAR INTERIOR WITH THE NOTCHES OF ADJACENTSIDE POSTS SUBSTANTIALLY ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE CAR DISPOSED INREGISTRATION, A RECESSED PORTION OPENING INWARDLY OF THE CAR FORMED INSAID WALL SHEATHING MEANS AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE CAR ANDCONNECTED THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH THEREOF IN THE REGISTERED RECESSEDNOTCHES OF SAID CAR SIDE POSTS, AND CONTINUOUS SECURING RAIL MEANSCONNECTED IN SAID RECESSED PORTION AND BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVETHEREWITH AND HAVING AN INNER SURFACE TOWARD THE CAR INTERIOR DISPOSEDFLUSH WITH SAID WALL SHEATHING MEANS, WHEREBY SAID WALL SHEATHING MEANSFORMS THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR WALLS OF SAID CAR SAID ASSEMBLY AND SAIDSECURING RAIL MEANS IS RECESSED WITHIN THE VERTICAL POSTS LONGITUDINALLYOF THE CAR.